An Inverted Love Story
by Katie.Kellog
Summary: Damn Loki, always screwing things up.  All Vertigo wanted to do was see a Nightfury, not BE a Nightfury!  ToothlessXOc.  Rated T for language, future violence, and basically no reason!  First Fic so be nice!
1. Chapter 1: Smoke and Pearls

**Hiya! This is my first fic, so please don't flame or anything! I saw How To Train Your Dragon, and absolutely loved it! So my brain's been stewing this baby up for quite some time! Hope you like it!**

**Oh, and since my sister's on here as well, she told me to add this before the story: Contains OCs and OCxCanon pairings. Don't like, don't read.**

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"What is it?"

Old Bjork couldn't believe his luck today! His 17 year old was finally married off, leaving him with his house to himself again, he'd located his best pair of boots, which had been lost for the longest time, and now this?

The girl couldn't have been older than his daughter. She was pretty average; the only thing standing out about her being her eyes. Such a brilliant amber color; Bjork had never known anyone with eyes that color. But thank the Gods she didn't seem to have much of a brain. Two or three words to her about one of the useless crystals he had sitting on a shelf in the back corner of his shop, and she was completely hooked.

"This one," he said with a sly smile, picking up a light purple crystal, "Is a favorite among buyers. It'll make any man fall in love with you; all you have to do is hide it somewhere in his house." The girl examined the crystal, weighing it in her hands, before handing it back to him.

"I'm not really interested in that. Too messy to deal with love when my Dad's already got some guy in mind." She waved it away but continued to ask about the other crystals. "What's this one do?" She pointed to a bright yellow one, and Bjork chuckled to himself as he made up yet another use for these useless crystals.

"Ah, you have some eye! This one, my dear, will grant you the power of unlimited strength in battle! All you have to do is grind it up and eat it before a fight, and you're sure to win!"

"I'm a merchant's daughter, why would I have any reason to fight?" she asked, shoving this crystal away, too. Bjork wanted to make a sale, but could see this girl wasn't like other women he'd sold to before; she wasn't all that bright, but she knew what she wanted.

"Well then, why don't you tell me what you ARE interested in, and I'll see if I have something that would suit you?" he asked, leaning on the counter. The girl scrunched up her nose and stared off into the distance for a moment, deep in thought, before snapping her fingers and smiling.

"I know! Ever since I was little, my Dad always told me about the Nightfury!" Bjork knew this story well; he'd been told about the Nightfury many times, before and after the Great Peace with the brutes. There were even rumors of a tamed Nightfury off in some foreign Tribe, though Bjork didn't necessarily believe it. Nightfuries never attacked, but they weren't tamable. They just weren't. "I've never seen one; do you have something that will make me see in the dark? If I could see in the dark, maybe I'd see one flying around!" Her smile was really wide now, and she sported a chipped-front-tooth. Bjork obviously didn't have anything with any magical properties, but this girl didn't know that. So after digging around a bit in the back of the store and over-turning a few boxes, covered in dust since the last time they'd been opened, he finally returned to the front counter with a small black bead in the palm of his hand.

It was just an ordinary glass bead, found on the shores of a beach, stained black from the ash of some volcanic island somewhere, but it was marbled with white here and there, and Bjork inwardly congratulated himself for finding it as the girl stared at it with intense curiosity.

"This here is the rarest and most valuable thing in the entire shop. Do you know what it is?" he asked, and was amused when the girl shook her head no. "It's a magical pearl, from the belly of a Nightfury. If you melt it in a fire at a forge and breathe in the smoke, you'll be able to attract any sort of dragon you wish, even Nightfuries. They'll just be drawn to you, like fish to the sea!" he said, waving his arms around for emphasis.

The girl's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and as soon as Bjork was done talking, she was reaching for the bead. "I'll take it," she breathed, but Bjork snatched it away just before she grabbed it.

"Hold up. Magical Nightfury pearls don't come cheap. What are you willing to pay for such an item?"

"I told you, I'm the daughter of a merchant. We've got money to spare! What're you asking?"

"Do we have a deal at 200 Gold pieces?" Bjork offered, and to his great surprise, the girl pulled a coin purse off of her belt and dumped out its contents onto the counter.

"Here's three-forty. You can keep it all if you throw in that necklace over there. It's been catching my eye this whole time!" she laughed, eyeing that pretty emerald pendant swinging from the silver chain. Bjork gaped, open-mouthed at this girl, before sweeping all the change into his apron and depositing it into a bin behind the counter.

"What's your name?" he asked after a few seconds of stunned silence. The girl threw a dazzling smile as she collected her bead and her necklace, and winked.

"Vertigo." She said, and with that, she was gone.

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"Please, Daddy?"

"I can't believe you're THIS irresponsible with money!"

"I'm NOT irresponsible!"

"Maybe I should have put you in dragon training with your sister,"

"DADDY!"

Vertigo balled up her fists and started throwing punches at her Father's belly, which didn't do much, except make his belly fat ripple like waves in the ocean. Harrikson didn't pay any mind, he was still wondering if it was too late to acquaint his youngest daughter with dragons. All three of his older daughters, not being all that pretty and rather stout, were fine dragon riders by this point, but Vertigo had been so small, so frail when she was younger, Harrikson never could imagine her taming one of those flame-happy beasts. And that child just had the face for trading, just like her mother; could get anyone to buy anything at any price from her. But Vertigo wasn't….sharp like her Mother had been. She didn't have the head for trading; it was always up in the clouds.

"Vertigo, why in Thor's name would you pay 340 Gold Pieces for a glass bead?" he asked, yet again. Vertigo crinkled her nose at him and pouted.

"I TOLD you, it's NOT a bead, it's a pearl! From the belly of a Nightfury! And it has magical properties; if I melt it and-"

"Yes, yes, breathe in the smoke, you'll sprout wings and fly up to Valhalla! You've told me already!"

"That's not what I said and you know it!" Vertigo was getting tired of her Father always looking down on her. Why couldn't he just believe her? He'd spent the entire trip back home chewing her out for it, and now, she'd been forbidden to leave the house with any money.

"You probably would've sold your own soul for this glass bead if you hadn't had the money!" he sighed, sinking down into his chair. "Verty, I just don't know what to do with you anymore." To this, Vertigo puffed up her cheeks and folded her arms across her chest.

"You're so mean! You'll see, when I catch a Nightfury, you'll see this pearl is real!" she glared at her Father long and hard, before she stormed out of the house and down the road, towards the forge.

Roan was leaning against the forge's door frame when Vertigo approached, digging dirt out from under his nails with the point of his pocket knife. Roan was a bit of an egotist around Vertigo's village, to say the least, and Vertigo didn't like hanging around him much, but she knew he was the only one who didn't think she was completely crazy, and therefore the only one who would melt this pearl for her. So, heaving a sigh and stepping forward, she switched her full-flirt mode on.

"Hey, Roan," she said, putting a little extra bounce in her step as she approached. "Working hard, or hardly working?" she grinned at him; she knew he liked her smile. Roan though, was used to a rather different Vertigo, one who was constantly rejecting him and/or shunning him, so he was slightly suspicious when she started acting so friendly.

"Heh, hey Vert. Why's your pretty face down on the south side on such a nice day?" he asked, keeping his guard up, just in case she changed her mind about all this and threw a punch. But Vertigo just laughed and leaned in close.

"Oh, you know, just wanted to see my favorite blacksmith." She batted her eyelashes, hoping it was having the desired effect.

"Well, Krawl is out back, you know." Roan said, jokingly.

"No, silly! I'm talking about you!" Vertigo was practically sick to her stomach, but if she quite the act now, Roan wouldn't do what she wanted. "Hey, I was wondering, could you do me this itsy bitsy little favor?" She asked.

"And that would be…?" Vertigo held up the pearl for Roan to see and pushed it into his hands.

"Can you melt this for me?" She said, tipping her head to one side and smiling again. "Pleeease?" Roan was sort of confused, but quite honestly, he would have done almost anything for Vertigo.

"Sure thing. But you'll need to do me a favor, also." He raised his eyebrows slightly and grinned. Vertigo almost gagged out the words: "Of course, what's that?" but managed to keep a straight face. "Oh, just a little kiss should do it. One kiss and I'll melt all the glass beads you want!"

"It's a pearl." Vertigo said calmly, shoving Roan into the forge. "And you'll get your kiss when I see some smoke."

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Vertigo ran out of the forge, half choking, half gagging. If that rancid smoke didn't kill her, having Roan kiss her sure would! She'd been planning to run out of the forge while it was filled with smoke before Roan's lips could get anywhere near her, but breathing in that toxic stuff disoriented her, and then, out of nowhere, there he was! Ug! She didn't know whether to hack up a lung or puke, but either way she was dry retching all the way home.

But the worst part was, no matter how hard Vertigo tried, she couldn't even get a Gronkle to fly to her! She was starting to believe what her Father had said about the pearl being a sham was true.

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Loki watched the girl with keen interest.

"Such a nice girl." he smiled, running his fingers through his craggily beard. "It's a shame she was swindled by that con man. Got her hopes up, and now what? Bitter disappointment." He chuckled and glided soundlessly through the trees at the edge of the village.

The mischievous God was bored. There was no lying about it; sitting in Asgard, following the rules, it was boring. He'd gone a good long time being good, and he deserved a night out to cause trouble! And what better way than to mess with the lives of the mortals?

"Maybe I CAN do something for that slip of a girl," he said, eyes narrowing to slits. "Wants to see a Nightfury so bad. Well old Loki, you can definitely make sure she sees a Nightfury." He stretched out his arms in front of him, cracking his fingers and smiled. "Yes, she'll see a Nightfury all right. Every time she looks in the mirror."

**Chapter One**


	2. Chapter 2: Dreams and Dragons

**Yay! I got a review from 5 people! (at least, last time I checked it was five people) thank you guys sooo much!**

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**Chapter Two**

Vertigo almost never had dreams. She just didn't; but it never bothered her. She was more interested in things that happened in real life than things that would never be real. But that night, the night of the first snow, it was different. Vertigo had one of the first dreams she'd ever had. And boy was it weird!

For some reason, she was stuck in a beard. She was very, very tiny and stuck in someone's beard. She spent the better half of the dream just trying to crawl out, and once she was free from the medusa-like hair, it was a looong way down to the ground!

The impact didn't hurt at all, in fact, it felt like landing on pillows. But once she hit the springy ground, she bounced back up, and mid-air, she started to grow. She went from itty bitty, to just plain tiny, to normal sized to giant in a matter of seconds. Her feet landed on someone's house and practically crushed it to the ground, and the Vikings at her feet were all screaming.

"No, no, it's me, Vertigo!" she'd call, but all the tiny Vikings did was cover their ears and scream that much louder. And just when she thought she was about to cry, she woke up.

It was a sudden waking, not peaceful in the least. She sat bolt-right up, panting and still on the verge of tears. The dream had really affected her; but she couldn't understand why. She didn't even know what it meant!

"Naw, never saw it." said a voice outside her window. "I'd remember it if I'd seen it."

"You're so full of it!" cried a second voice. "I saw you with it yesterday! My master will be furious if you took it!" It was funny; Vertigo had never heard these voices before. And master? Perhaps they were thralls….?

"I'm tellin' you, I don't have it!" The first voice repeated, rising in pitch. "What would I want with a smelly boot?"

"I dunno! You're a hoarder and everyone knows it!" At this, Vertigo just had to get up and see who was speaking, and why they were being so loud! Didn't they have respect for the people in the house, trying to go back to sleep?

It was light outside when Vertigo reached the window, and peering out, she couldn't see a soul in sight, except for a couple of terrors.

Now, the thing with Vertigo's village was, while the great peace had been a considerable advantage to the people, they still hadn't taken that much of a shine to the scaly beasts that they had not long ago been killing. Vikings couldn't change that fast. So most people tried to just keep out of the dragons way, marveling at them when they flew overhead or letting them have a wide girth when one would fly next to a fishing boat. Almost no-one kept them as pets; much too dangerous. But there were some, mostly young Vikings, who liked to keep terrible terrors at sort of lap-dragons. They were mostly quiet and didn't breathe all that much fire and mostly kept out from under-foot.

"Just admit you took it, you lying thief!" Vertigo let out a shrill scream when, to her great surprise, the red terror to the left opened its tiny jaws and started to speak. At her shriek, both dragons looked up, wide-eyed, and froze.

"What was that about?" the green terror asked, glancing at its companion. The red terror shrugged, and shook its head.

"That's just that ditzy merchant-girl. She's always doing weird things; what can you expect from an airhead?" Both terrors laughed at this, but immediately went back to arguing over the lost boot from before. Vertigo had slapped her hands over her mouth, and backed away from the window. Had she just heard those dragons…._speak?_ That…that was impossible! Everyone knew dragons couldn't talk, just roar and grunt and blow fire! But Vertigo had seen it, seein it with her very own eyes; those dragons out there were having a conversation!

"Verty!" her father busted through Vertigo's door, breaking one of the hinges, and Vertigo spun around to face him, look of shock and horror still on her face. "What's wrong! Are ya hurt? Why'd ya scream like that!" he said, looking around her room furiously, perhaps looking for some sort of intruder. Vertigo had to slap the shock from her face before she could answer, and took a moment to compose herself.

"N-no, Daddy!" she stammered, still a bit shaky. "I'm fine, really I am! I just…just….uh….stubbed my toes, that's all!" she said, lifting a foot and grimacing. "Owwww! It _really_ hurts."

Her father's eyebrows slumped, and he scowled. "Vertigo, you can't go around screaming yer head off fer a stubbed toe! I thought sumthin' bad had happened to ya! Ya just about gave me a heart-attack!"

"Sorry, Daddy." She said, putting her foot back down. "I'll be good!"

"Ya'd better be." He gave his daughter one last stern look, and then left the room, shutting the door behind him. Vertigo waited until his footsteps faded and she heard the front door slamming, and then rushed back to the window, which she threw open and leaned out of.

The ground was only slightly frosted with snow, but the tiny lizard's footprints were still visible and ready to be tracked down. Vertigo wasted no time in vaulting out of her window and running off through the village, looking for the tiny beats.

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"Okay, okay." The red terror said, huffing and whipping his tail around. "You were right and I was wrong. Happy?"

"Yes, very!" the green one was wagging his stumpy tail as he sat down next to the boot. It was leaning against the side of a house, NOT stolen.

Vertigo watched through stretched eyes as they continued to converse. It was almost surreal, listening to dragons talk! What they said wasn't very meaningful, but hey. They didn't really sound any different than the humans. But there was something bugging Verty; she could hear them talk just fine, so could they hear her talk? She was almost reluctant to try, but curiosity got the better of her, and she stepped out from behind the corner she was hiding behind. The tiny Terror's head snapped up to meet her gaze as she approached.

"Um, hi," she said, half-smiling and giving a tiny wave. The Terror's jumped almost as high as she had jumped when she'd first heard them talking; both wore identical looks of shock.

"Greenbell, did you hear what I just heard?" one asked, not looking away from Vertigo.

"I…I-I think I did, Firebelly!" the other replied, taking a step forward. "How can you speak our language?" it asked, narrowing its eyes and flapping it's little wings. "Only dragons can speak dragonese!"

"I…I really dunno," Vertigo said back, and the dragons flinched again. "I woke up this morning, and I could hear you guys talking. I'm still really confused, too!" at this, the red terror stepped up next to his friend and glared at her.

"You listen to us, girly!" it said, scratching at the dirt with his claws, trying to look tough. "We dragons don't like black magic, you hear me? If you're some kind of devil's-agent-"

"I'm not, I swear!" she said, kneeling down. "Cross my heart and everything!" the dragons glanced at each other, both looking a bit skeptical, but lowered their haunches and folded their wings back up.

"Okay," the green one, Greenbell, said, sitting down and licking his eye. "So if you can hear us and speak to us, can you still hear humans and speak to humans?" Vertigo nodded yes, and Greenbell wagged his tail again. "Great! Because I have a few things to say to those humans!"

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Vertigo hauled herself back up the hill towards her house. It was just about sunset, and she'd spent the whole day talking and listening to the Terrors. They had a lot to say, and were rather cheeky fellows, but Vertigo was still in shock that she could understand them. More than once, she'd thought maybe she was still dreaming, or that maybe she was just plain crazy! But either way, this was quite an interesting turn of events.

And oh, if only she'd known of the events still to come!

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**Thralls = Viking-age slaves**


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